Infamous Houston killer released from prison

Updated 11:10 pm, Thursday, June 5, 2014

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

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David Isador Port, who made headlines as a teenager when he kidnapped and killed 23-year-old postal worker Debora Sue Schatz in 1984, is shown in car leaving from Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit, 815 12th Street , Thursday, June 5, 2014, in Huntsville. The 47-year-old has served enough time on good behavior to fulfill his 75 year sentence.

David Isador Port, who made headlines as a teenager when he kidnapped and killed 23-year-old postal worker Debora Sue Schatz in 1984, is shown in car leaving from Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Huntsville

Debora Sue Schatz is shown in this undated family photo. David Isador Port abducted and killed the 23-year-old postal worker in 1984.

Debora Sue Schatz is shown in this undated family photo. David Isador Port abducted and killed the 23-year-old postal worker in 1984.

Photo: Family Photo

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Barbara Schatz, right, breaks down in tears as she and her daughter, Mary Schatz, left, make a video to send to the Board of Pardons and Paroles Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2004, in Houston. Schatz and her daughter were making the video to help prevent the parole of David Port, who murdered her daughter Debora Schatz 17 years ago. less

Barbara Schatz, right, breaks down in tears as she and her daughter, Mary Schatz, left, make a video to send to the Board of Pardons and Paroles Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2004, in Houston. Schatz and her daughter ... more

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Andy Kahan, left, sits with Barbara Schatz wait outside the studio to make a video to send to the Board of Pardons and Paroles Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2004, in Houston. Schatz made a video to help prevent the parole of David Port, who murdered her daughter Debora Schztz 17 years ago. A photo of Schatz' daughter, Debora Schatz, sits on the table. less

Andy Kahan, left, sits with Barbara Schatz wait outside the studio to make a video to send to the Board of Pardons and Paroles Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2004, in Houston. Schatz made a video to help prevent the ... more

Photo: BRETT COOMER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

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Infamous Houston killer released from prison

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David Isador Port, who made headlines as a teenager when he abducted and killed 23-year-old postal worker Debora Sue Schatz in 1984, was released from prison Thursday.

The 47-year-old has served enough time on good behavior to fulfill his 75 year sentence. He was freed 30 years, almost to the day, after he forced Schatz by gunpoint to his home as she delivered mail in Port's west Houston neighborhood, then shot her as she tried to flee.

"We just want to warn everybody that David Port is coming back to Harris County," said Phillip Harmon, Schatz's brother-in-law. "Especially the postal workers. The last thing David Port saw was a postal uniform and we're just concerned about their safety as well as our family's."

It's frustrating, Harmon said, because Port's release is mandatory even though he has been passed over for parole since first becoming eligible in 2007. Through the years, Port's release was vigorously opposed by Schatz's parents.

Her father, Albert Schatz, died from a heart attack about a month after his daughter's murder; her mother, Barbara, died last December.

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A U.S. Post Office at Rogerdale and Westheimer is named after Debora Sue Schatz.

Under sentencing guidelines passed in 1977 designed to ease overcrowding in prisons, release is automatic when calendar time served and accrued "good time" added up to equal their entire sentence, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

That law was changed in 1996, when the Texas legislature gave the board authority to block release on a case-by-case basis for offenders with crimes committed after September 1, 1996.

Port's conditions of parole include having to wear a 24-hour GPS ankle monitor and a prohibition against returning to Harris County, or contacting Schatz's family.

Victims' advocate Andy Kahan called Port's crime one of the most notorious and horrific episodes in the city's history and said Thursday's release was a "tragedy of tragedies."

"There are certain cases that resonate with the citizens of Houston and this is certainly one of them," he said.

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